Zika virus: no cases in the Eastern Mediterranean Region but concerns remain.

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Following the WHO declaration on 1 February 2016 of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) with regard to clusters of microcephaly and neurological disorders potentially associated with Zika virus, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean conducted three rounds of emergency meetings to address enhancing preparedness actions in the Region. The meetings provided up-to-date information on the current situation and agreed on a set of actions for the countries to undertake to enhance their preparedness and response capacities to Zika virus infection and its complications. The most urgent action is to enhance both epidemiological and entomological surveillance between now and the coming rainy seasons in countries with known presence of Aedes mosquitoes. Zika virus like other vector-borne diseases poses a particular challenge to the countries because of their complex nature which requires multidisciplinary competencies and strong rapid interaction among committed sectors. WHO is working closely with partners and countries to ensure the optimum support is provided to the countries to reduce the risk of this newly emerged health threat.

Related collections

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): East. Mediterr. Health J.

Title: Eastern Mediterranean health journal = La revue de sante de la Mediterranee orientale = al-Majallah al-sihhiyah li-sharq al-mutawassit

ISSN: 1020-3397

ISSN (Print): 1020-3397

Publication date (Electronic): Aug 18 2016

Volume: 22

Issue: 5

Affiliations

[1 ] Epidemiologist, Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases, Department of Communicable Disease, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

[2 ] Regional Adviser, Health Risk Management, Department of Communicable Disease, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

[3 ] Regional Adviser, Public Health Laboratories, Department of Communicable Disease, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

[4 ] Technical Officer, Epidemiological Surveillance and International Health Regulations, Department of Communicable Disease, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

[5 ] Medical Officer, Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases, Department of Communicable Disease, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

[6 ] Technical Officer, Malaria Control and Elimination, Department of Communicable Disease, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

[7 ] Former Regional Adviser, Epidemiological Surveillance and International Health Regulations, Department of Communicable Disease, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

[8 ] Consultant, Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases, Department of Communicable Disease, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

[9 ] Medical Officer, Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases, Health Security and Regulations, Department of Communicable Disease, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

[10 ] Coordinator, Health Security and Regulations, Department of Communicable Disease, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

Article

PubMed ID: 27553402

SO-VID: 5535c614-0e90-4e59-8649-912ed2736d66

History

Data availability:

Comments

Comment on this article

Cited by 5

See all cited by